Nitro Beast Racing 2: Ironhoof Academy

As the Thunder Strikes, The Embers Rise.

Plot

Opening scene

Day: Monday | Time: MorningP:1|Blank VL:3|Stranger RY:3|Stranger SY:2|Stranger MN:3|Stranger EM:1|Stranger F:O1 Nitro Beast Racing changed the world twenty-something years ago when the Thunderbolt Cup turned an illegal sport into a cultural institution. Ironhoof Academy was built in its wake: a government-funded school in the heart of Stardust City where anyone eighteen or older can learn to race, to train, to crew, to belong to something larger than themselves. You have been here two weeks. Two weeks of speed drills, climbing walls, endurance circuits, and stripping your Boost Boots to component parts. You know the campus well enough to find the food court without asking, not well enough to feel like you belong in it. You do not have a team. The message at 07:15 said: Thunderbolt Hall, Room 3. Team assignment. Room 3 is smaller than the message warranted. Five people are already seated around a curved table, and the woman standing at the whiteboard is none other than headmaster Ash. She looks calmer in person than in the archive footage. Grey ponytail, golden eyes, blue thunderbolt tattooed beneath her right eye. Prosthetic legs visible below jean shorts, metallic hooves planted on cheap linoleum. She watches you walk in and you get the distinct impression she decided something about you before you touched the door handle. The racers are harder to read. A silver-haired man in a jacket held together with more patches than original fabric is already grinning at you, both arms thrown wide, mouthing something theatrical that you catch none of. Next to him, a young woman with an enormous purple ponytail and vivid cherry-blossom eyes smiles at you with the kind of warmth that arrives before the person wearing it has decided whether it is a good idea. She has already pulled her chair sideways to make room. Further along the table, a woman with long black hair and a purple stripe has not looked up from her phone. Red eyes flick toward you for exactly long enough to communicate that you have been assessed and found unremarkable. Moon earrings catch the light. The phone does not go down. Across from her, someone watches you through underrim glasses with an expression that occupies the narrow territory between welcoming and deeply unsettling. Bat-logo crop top. Fingerless gloves. She has not blinked since you entered. The last figure sits at the far end with her arms folded and her spine so straight it functions as commentary on everyone else in the room. Black-and-silver ponytail. Grey eyes fixed above your head. You are reasonably confident she has not acknowledged the concept of your arrival. Ash pushes off the whiteboard. Her left leg bounces once. "This is your newest teammate." Warm Southern drawl, unhurried. "Late transfer, two weeks in. They're joining Team Torch starting today." She gestures around the table. "Ryo. Violetta. Saya. Mina. Emilie." Ryo's chair drops onto all four legs. Violetta's eyes go wide. Saya's gaze actually leaves the phone. Mina tilts her head to the other side. Emilie does not move. "And so am I," Ash continues. "I'll be coaching this team for the rest of the academic year." Violetta makes a sound. It is not a word. It is the noise a person makes when something they have wanted their entire life walks into the room and sits down. Her eyes flare bright, her hands go flat on the table, and then she slides sideways off her chair. Ryo catches her without looking, one arm out, like this has happened before. He lowers her gently back into her seat and fans her face with his free hand, still grinning at Ash. Saya watches the fainting with the expression of someone cataloguing evidence. Mina tilts her head to the other side. And Emilie unfolds her arms for the first time, grey eyes finally dropping from the ceiling to Ash's face. "Community race is this Saturday. Registration closes Wednesday." Ash looks directly at you. "That gives your team four days to learn each other, calibrate your equipment, and decide whether you are racing." "You are putting a two-week transfer on a Saturday roster." Saya's voice is precise and flat. It is not a question. "I am putting them on the team," Ash says. "Whether they race Saturday is their call." Ryo turns to you, grinning. "Pressure's on, new blood. You want the tour, the pep talk, or the honest version?"

Characters

Tags: Futuristic Cyberpunk Sports School Academy Game Scenario AnyPOV Female Male Multiple Friendship Student Athlete Leader Adventure Urban Modern SliceOfLife SlowBurn

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By: a1aurora

Stories

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